Is Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft worth getting if you own all the 2E/3E books?

[dead]

I’ve been a long time fan of Ravenloft and own most of the 2E and 3E books.

I’m still playing D&D 3E and my main games are a Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms campaign that have had occasional forays into the Domains of Dread over the years.

I’m thinking of trying out 5th Edition D&D, though, and thought I might try a campaign set in Ravenloft where the PCs are natives.

Is the recent Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft worth getting as an update to the setting if I already own most of the 2E/3E books?

…

Also, on a side note, I’ve decided Strahd won’t be the “keystone” to my Ravenloft. Instead, I will replace him with Dracula and Transylvania.

The reason for this is that I ran the original I6 Ravenloft adventure many years ago in my Greyhawk campaign. I’d placed the castle and Barovia in the mountains of Perrenland. Strahd was terrorising the villagers, and the heroes, who were passing through (they were searching for the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth), stormed his castle and ran a stake through his heart. Basically, Strahd was just an “ordinary” prime material vampire.

Later, when the Ravenloft setting came out, I started using bits of it. The players, through various adventures, have had run-ins with Lord Soth of Sithicus, Dr Markov of Markovia and Malocchio of Invidia - but they have never delved into the heart of the Core where Strahd’s Barovia is meant to be.

I know I could bring Strahd back, but I’ve decided I want to replace him with Dracula and say it was Transylvania that formed as the first realm in the Domains of Dread - not Barovia. Apart from that, everything else about the Domains of Dread will be pretty much the same.

For this reason, I also backed a recent Kickstarter, Veil of the Eternal Night, in the hopes that it would give me some good 5E content to flesh out my Transylvania.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I’ve been a long time fan of Ravenloft and own most of the 2E and 3E books.
Is the recent Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft worth getting as an update to the setting if I already own most of the 2E/3E books?
…
Also, on a side note, I’ve decided Strahd won’t be the “keystone” to my Ravenloft. Instead, I will replace him with Dracula and Transylvania.

Personally I wouldn't buy it, as it has its own canon different from the 2e/3e, but since you have made your own changes in the campaign you might find some ideas there useful. Following are my comments in italics

In 5e there is no Core, all domains are independent and one travels from one to a specific other using mist talismans. Also the Dark Powers are defined and the God Osybus makes his first appearance...



As you may understood I am not a big fan of Osybus (the name of Athenian public transport buses).

Also the maps in the book are really nice made but unusable for 2e/3e Ravenloft.

Here is a skeleton of the book from a review (not mine)http://thecampaign20xx.blogspot.com/202 ... eview.html

Introduction

The Dark Powers are defined (in previous canon it was left to the DM to decide what they are)

The Dark Powers: In the introductory section, we are told that "Sinister entities known as the Dark Powers manipulate the domains of dread and all who dwell within." I wonder if we'll get confirmation that the Dark Powers are indeed the vestiges trapped in amber in the Amber Temple from Curse of Strahd? I'm dying to know more about some of those vestiges.

Wait... page 8 gives us the answer! "Although some of their names whisper through sinister lore - Osybus, Shami-Amourae, and Tenebrous - domain inhabitants know almost nothing about the Dark Powers." So there you go! Tenebrous, aka dead Orcus, is a Dark Power.

Chapter 1: Character Creation

If you own the 2e Champions of the Mists as well as 3e Heroes of Light, Van Richten's Arsenal or Champions of Darkness I am not sure if you need this, conversions are easy. Personally I wouldn't use Dhampir, Hexblood or Reborn (except the reborn in Adam's Wrath adventure). It has some nice ideas for Dark Gifts though.

This short chapter details 3 new types of character lineages you can make, some Dark Gifts (special powers/curses), 2 subclasses, and a bunch of character backgrounds, and a pile of trinkets.

Lineages: "Lineages are races that characters might gain through remarkable events."

Dhampir: A vampire, basically. You can bite people to do damage and heal yourself (if you're missing half your HP or more).

Hexblood: A magic being, often raised or created by hags. You have a telepathic token that you can scry with. You can also cast disguise self and hex once per day. I love the hag lore in D&D.

Reborn: "Individuals who have died yet, somehow, still live."

Dark Gifts: Characters can be tempted by the Dark Powers, given special boons that also have a drawback. The first one seems very harsh - you gain two proficiencies and one language, but every time you roll a 1 on a d20 something horrible happens (you're charmed by a creature you can see, or you are incapacitated, etc.).

• Living Shadow: Wow. Now we're talking. "Your shadow occasionally moves out of sync with you." You roll on the shadow quirks table.. some of these are hilarious. "When I'm distracted, my shadow panics and tries to get other people's attention, as if it's desperate to escape me."
  
  The shadow can be used like a mage hand spell and it can increase your reach for melee attacks. When you roll a 1 on a d20, "your shadow exerts a will of its own." Amazing. Love this one!

Mist Walker: You can pass through the Mists to escape a domain, but if you remain in one area for too long, the Mists can "drain your life force" (you start gaining levels of exhaustion after 1-4 weeks of being in the same place).

• Second Skin: You can take on a second form, which might be a slime creature or an angelic form (!). The drawback involves a certain trigger, such as the sound of ringing temple bells, which can force you to shift forms involuntarily. These are all great.

• Symbiotic Being: These just keep getting better! This could be a tiny humanoid attached to your body or a living tattoo. Amazing. The symbiote has its own agenda and can force you to do things if you fail a save. This is a recipe for a legendary character.

• Death Touch: You can do damage via touch! 1d10 necrotic damage if you hit. "The deathly power within you is beyond your control, afflicting any who touch your bare skin." This is stellar. I am loving these dark gifts so much. You can make such a cool, tortured hero with this gimmick, a Raistlin-type character.

• Watchers: "Something is always watching you and draws ethereal spirits... that follow you and gather in your general vicinity." Could be bats, ghost orbs, shadows, or "otherworldly voyeurs." You can use them to aid in Perception checks, you are immune to blindness, but when other people notice the watchers you have disadvantage on certain checks. Love this one, too.

Subclass Options: We get two of them.

• Bard: College of Spirits: You can commune with spirits, who let you cast guidance, let you use certain tools, and use bardic inspiration for different effects - deal force damage, grant temporary HP, etc. Once you hit level 6, you can conduct a ritual to "...learn one spell of your choice from any class" (must be divination or necromancy).

• Warlock: The Undead: You make a pact with an undead entity, probably a lich. At 6th level you no longer need to eat/sleep breathe, at 10th level "...when you would be reduced to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to drop to 1 hit point instead..."

Backgrounds: We get some quick new backgrounds, along with lists of ideals, bonds, and flaws.

• Favorite Bond: "I'm desperately seeking a cure to an affliction or a curse, either for someone close to me or for myself."

• Favorite Flaw: "I'm convinced something is after me, appearing in mirrors, dreams, and places where no one could."
  Haunted One: I think this background is from Curse of Strahd.

• Investigator: Now you can be like Van Richten! There's a list of possible first cases. My favorite: "You helped a spirit find peace by finding its missing corpse. Ever since, other spectral clients have sought you out to help them find rest."

Favorite Trinkets: We get a list of 100 new trinkets. Here are my favorites:

• "A lock that opens when blood is dripped into its keyhole."

• "A black executioner's hood."

• "A candle made from a severed hand."

• "A straightjacket covered in charcoal runes."

Chapter 2: Creating Domains of Dread
I disagree with the following canon about Darklords not dying.

We start off with advice and rules on creating Darklords and domains. The part I find most interesting is the idea that a Darklord can't really die! Defeating them might involve exploiting a weakness, but in the end, the Dark Powers can bring them back.

In my experience, creating a Darklord is difficult. Seems like the best way to do it is to take a popular NPC/villain from a campaign and have them get sucked into/be reborn in Ravenloft. I think that straight resurrecting a big bad guy that your group already defeated might feel cheap, but by having them reborn as a Darklord, now tormented and flawed, it might be really cool and fresh for your players.

The Genres of Horror are interesting but doesn't worth buying the book for them.

• Genres of Horror: Whoa, wasn't expecting this! We get a list of different types of horror and villains/settings/plots you can use. The first one is "body horror", which immediately makes me think of old, gross David Cronenberg effects like in The Fly.
  
  • Body Horror: We are given a list of monsters appropriate for this genre, and included is the chain devil (a nod to Hellraiser, I assume).
    
    Some of the villain ideas are great. "A monarch who feeds their cannibal children, no matter the cost."
  • Cosmic Horror: Favorite plot: "Help a parent recover a child who's gone missing in the impossibly vast space underneath their bed."
  • Dark Fantasy: Favorite villain: "A god who killed all their peers and now rules the mortal realm."
  • Folk Horror: What is this? It's about traditions and beliefs. Like The Ritual. Favorite setting: "A telepathic collective that townsfolk join by ingesting a rare fungus."
  • Ghost Stories: Lots of murder-solving in this one. Favorite torment: "All spirits obey a Darklord who can't touch anyone without stealing their soul."
  • Gothic Horror: Favorite villain: "Someone who loves a monstrous creature and does anything to keep it fed and safe."

Chapter 3: Domains of Ravenloft

This is the part were fans of old Ravenloft (including me) disagree with. But still there is info and ideas in this chapter that can be used for 2e/3e canon (such as the list Borcan noble families). Still not worthing buying the book for those either though.

This chapter takes up most of the book. It details piles and piles of domains of dread. I am really curious to see what old ones have been updated. Very interested to see if new ones have been created, too. I bet there's going to be all sorts of fun nuggets in here.

The Mists: We get rules for wandering the mists. The Dark Powers can manipulate the Mists, allowing them to open or close borders to a certain domain. If the borders are closed, the Mists look menacing and start dealing out exhaustion left and right until you back off or die.

If the borders are open, you wander for d6 hours and then roll on a chart. It is very difficult... nearly impossible... to emerge from the Mists onto a world on the Material Plane.

Mist Talisman: These are non-magical objects linked to a specific domain. You can walk into the Mist, use the talisman to focus on that domain, and travel there.

Prison of Souls: If you die in Ravenloft, your spirit is probably trapped in Ravenloft forever, even if you are raised from the dead.

Ezra, God of the Mists: Denizens of many domains worship this entity. "Whether she's a manifestation of the Dark Powers, an aspect of the Plane of Shadow's mysterious Raven Queen, or something else entirely is for you to decide."

I think it would be cool if the people of Ravenloft worshiped the Raven Queen, and the Dark Powers were her enemies. I mean, the vestiges are basically cheating death, right?

Domains: Now we get to the main stuff. Pages 66 to 183 cover this chapter! I am dying to see what's in here. We start off with the big one...

Barovia: A lot of this looks the same as in Curse of Strahd. There is a mention in the Vallaki section of "priests of Osybus" which seems new.

No comment

The Amber Temple is described as "...a nexus of secrets underpinning the nature of the Domains of Dread." Then it says: "The priests of Osybus (detailed in the "Other Groups" section later in this chapter) have particular interest in this site."

Want to skip ahead to read about Osybus? Let's do it. Page 178. "These cultists channel the might of the Dark Powers and steal souls to gain the ability to transcend death." They are working to try to free Strahd from Ravenloft!

We get charts full of ideas/hooks on a number of subjects. In a list of 8 Barovian adventure ideas, there's this: "Priests of Osybus (see chapter 5) have gained a following in Vallaki. They consider Strahd a demi-god of their faith and drain the blood of nonbelievers in their name."

Still no comment

There's a big section on creating an incarnation of Tatyana (Strahd's would-be bride). Love this.

Bluetspur: It's here! The vampiric mind flayer place! My group wanted absolutely nothing to do with this realm. The Darklord of this domain: The God-Brain of Bluetspur. This section is too short! We get an overview of the realm and the basic story, but I'd have liked some detailed locales.

It has some nice ideas for Bluetspur such as the spirit infested mountain shunned by the mind flayers.

Borca: A realm of feuding nobles. This domain has two Darklords who rarely meet. I really like Ivan Dilisnya and his clockwork pram. Very, very cool-looking villain! I feel like, even with the info provided, I'd have a hard time making a fun adventure here. This is a more "social" realm, not your typical D&D locale.

Poison Ivy from Batman meets Ivana Boritsi, Ivan's clockworks don't bother me though they could be intergrated in his playhouse. I would though keep him still be able to move on his legs, the 5e Ivan is how Ivan would be later in his life still wanting to learn the secret of eternal youth

The Carnival: This is a domain that actually travels. I've never been into carnivals in D&D, but there's very cool ideas here. There's a guy whose worst impulses grow into creatures that he keeps in bottles and puts on display. That's so weird and deep, I love it.

I prefer the old 2e/3e Carnival and not this combination of Ebonbane clown.

Darkon: Hey! This has Castle Avernus from From the Shadows. That place was loaded with magic items. This domain was once the home of the lich Azalin, who I remember being a very big deal in 2e Ravenloft. I'm constantly surprised he hasn't been mentioned more in future editions.

It looks like Azalin actually escaped his own domain and now the place has changed. Now, the realm is slowly crumbling. Anyone who dies rises up the next night as a mindless zombie.

Azalin is wandering around as a mortal version of himself and Castle Avernus is suspended in stasis while exploding. The second part could be used in an adventure feautering the time of Unparallel Darkness.

Castle Avernus blew up, but the pieces of it are hovering in the air and slowly re-forming. Sections of it are still intact. Don't want to spoil too much, but there's a ton of cool details here.

Three people are battling for control of the realm. One of them is related to Baron Metus, the vampire that killed van Richten's son.

Dementlieu: This realm is all about masquerade balls. The Darklord has a whole thing about exposing liars, and even has actual flavor text when unmasking an intruder. I still maintain that players always love balls/parties in D&D. It just always works. I don't know why.

I prefer the old version of Dementlieu, this idea could be used for a new domain

Falkovnia: This is a war-torn land where armies of undead are coming after the Darklord. All of the undead are soldiers who died under the Darklord's watch. Awesome, right? This is a perfect domain of dread, in my opinion.

Nope old version for me please.

Har'Akir: The Mummy! Mummies are a little under-utilized in D&D. This place has "a vast dungeon underworld that connects every tomb and monument..."

Again old Egyptian version for me and not this high fantasy mummy.

Hazlan: I LOVE the map to Hazlan. The colors! Amazing. This is a realm ruled by wizards who use the entire place to conduct magical experiments. There's a forest where everything has been turned to stone, a wasteland where meteors and otherworldly creatures fall from the sky, all sorts of stuff. I really like this place, maybe my favorite one so far. It even has its own wild magic table.

Has some nice ideas such as the Dune worms which I am using in my 2e/3e version. But in general they combined aspects of Azalin with Hazlik, I prefer the old version of Hazlik

I'Cath: This is a city whose populace sleeps forever. The city layout changes every night, making escape nearly impossible.

I'Cath the only domain in this book that is better (much, much better) than the old version. I still am not sure if its worth buying the book for i it or info other mentioned earlier).

Kalakeri: Two factions vie for control. The Darklord is a death knight and there's a tower that grows taller every night.

I prefer Sri Raji and Arijani as a darklord, I believe is bad even for a new domain.

Kartakass: A collection of settlements inhabited by performers. This is basically a Bards & Werewolves setting. I believe this is the locale of the very first 2e Ravenloft setting adventure Feast of Goblyns.

No its Wolfweres and Bards for me, bring back the old Sound of Music version please. It is the locale of the very first 2e Ravenloft setting adventure Feast of Goblyns but much have changed here including Harkon Lukas



Lamordia: Hey this is the Frankenstein domain! In 2e, the Darklord here was "Victor Mordenheim" and his creation - Adam. Now the Darklord is a woman named Viktra Mordenheim. If you read my Guide to the Brain in a Jar, you know that the original Victor Mordenheim also created "The Living Brain." Viktra can swap people's brains. Her "monster" is a woman named Elise. This domain is really cool - they took all the old stories and brought them forward.

Never saw the point in this version.

Mordent: This domain originally appeared in the 1st edition Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill adventure, which I wrote a lot about here. In that one, there were two Strahds running around, along with Azalin the lich and all sorts of other stuff.

Reading this 5e version, we see that this is where van Richten's herbalist shop is located. The Darklord is a ghost who lives in the House on Gryphon Hill, who commands a horde of undead. He is trying to use the Apparatus (the huge device from the 1e adventure that Strahd hoped would help him escape from Ravenloft) to escape his torment, but it always has some disastrous malfunction.

I really enjoy how they've embraced the old stuff and cleaned it up. Some of these concepts didn't really work well in older editions, but instead of discarding them, the designers have repaired them and made them fun and functional.

I believe they messed everything up than cleaning it up, and the old Apparatus is far better than this steampunk version.

Richemulot: This is wererat central. The Darklord is a wererat. The city has swarms of rats wandering the streets like packs of dogs. And there's a "gnawing plague" that is spread by the rats. Most of this section details how the plague can become an epidemic with the dead littering the streets.

I only have to mention the rat slippers Jacgueline wears in her image to understand my view on this.

Tepest: The Darklord of this realm is a green hag who trapped her two sisters in a magic cauldron. The people of this domain revere the hag and offer her tributes.

This is a nice Tepest metaplot for 2e/3e

Valachan: A jungle teeming with displacer beasts. The current Darklord is a weretiger named Chakuna.

Baron Von Kharkov please.


Other Domains of Dread: Over the course of a few pages, we are presented with many more domains of dread. There's one from Eberron, Markovia (based on the Island of Dr. Moreau, I think), the Sea of Sorrows! (from Ship of Horror), and... well look at this.

The darklord of the Sea of Sorrows is a Pirate from the Caribbean instead of an explorer...lame...

Travelers in the Mists: This section details NPCs and organizations that might be allies with the heroes.

Keepers of the Feather: The wereravens from Curse of Strahd.

I like the Spirit Board but not to be used by this secret society but rather by mediums.

Vistani: Includes notes on making Vistani characters.

Different from 2e/3e since 4e

Mist Wanderers: We are given extensive descriptions of many NPCs. One that sticks out is Erasmus van Richten, Rudolph's ghost son.

Ahh... yes after being turned into a vampire by Baron Metus and destroyed by his father Rudolph Erasmus became a ghost... (is that even possible? he was already undead...

Ezmerelda "Ez" d'Avenir, from Curse of Strahd, is here as well. She has split off from van Richten, not wanting to become obsessed like van Richten has.

In 5e Arturi Radanavich has turned into Ezmerelda "Ez" d'Avenir.

Chapter 4: Horror Adventures

We go over session zero stuff - checking to see what your players are and aren't OK with. Pacing, setting the mood, all that stuff.

I think the only horror adventure I ever played that really felt scary was when we played a game in high school called Beyond the Supernatural (our characters were high school kids who stumbled onto supernatural elements in town), by candlelight.

It was awesome, scary and fun... until my min/maxing friend had his character somehow obtain a shotgun, track down the school bullies, and completely ruin the tension.

Horror Toolkit: We go over curses and effects of fear. As far as fear mechanics go, basically your character has a trigger such as "I can't stand heights." Then, when that comes up in the game, they must make a DC 15 WIS save or become frightened until the end of their next turn.

We also get a few haunted traps, and some new NPC sidekick "survivor" types. There's 4:

Apprentice: Can cast burning hands and fire bolt.
Disciple: Can cast sacred flame.
Sneak: Can disengage.
Squire: Can use a shield to shove as a bonus action.

The House of Lament: Wow.. we get a whole 19-page adventure in here. This scenario takes characters from level 1 to level 3. It's a haunted house that acts as both a domain of dread and a Darklord.

The House of Lament must be a nice adventure though I would change the reason the house is evil (meaning the end). Can be combined with 2e version and become better.

You're given a ton of options as far as what NPCs are in the house and which spirit the group will be dealing with. Rudolph van Richten is an option as far as investigators go.

Basically, the group will have to survive in the house and periodically do a seance to learn how to help the spirit trapped in the house.

I guess I shouldn't spoil too much, but the ending is very, very cool.

Chapter 5: Monsters of Ravenloft

Always a highlight of these books is the new monsters. Let's go over some of them and see what weird new things we can throw at our players.

Bodytaker Plant: It can create duplicates of people. It's basically an Invasion of the Bodysnatchers style monster. I really like the art of this thing.

Don''t be fooled it is the same as the Doppelganger plant.

Boneless: "Undead remains devoid of skeletons." They can crush you with their embrace.

Carrion Stalker: A disgusting tiny creature that bursts out of corpses to attack you.

Carrionette: Murder puppets. They can swap consciousness with creatures that are struck with their needles! Crazy. I think these are from an old 2e adventure called The Created.

Death's Head: Disembodied heads that fly around and bite you. There are different bite effects, including a bite that turns you to stone. These grow on death's head trees, which sounds really awesome.

Dullahans: Undead humanoids who were decapitating and now roam about seeking their heads.

There can be only one... Horseman

Gallows Speaker: An undead that forms at sites of mass death, a sort of manifestation of the combined suffering. Great art on this one!

Gremishka: Evil little cat/rats created by magic gone awry. When spells are cast around them, you roll on their allergy chart - they might heal, do force damage to enemies, or explode. Awesome stat block! Swarms can actually redirect spells cast near them.

Better than the 2e/3e version, more closely resembling the Gremlins movie.

Jiangshi: Undead that come out at night to consume life energy. If it does so, it damages the victim, heals itself, doubles its speed, and gains the ability to fly!

Necrichor: Probably my favorite piece of art in the whole book is of this creature, a vial of red liquid. It is a being of living blood, with the ability to be a "blood puppeteer" - controlling another humanoid's body. "A necrichor is a being of living blood, formed from the ichor of evil gods or the sludge in crypts of failed liches."

Not for me.

Nosferatu: Vampires "without grace." These things vomit blood in a 15-foot cone.

Priests of Osybus: Aha, let's see what these people are all about. Through magic tattoos, they steal souls to power their magic and to become undead. Osybus was a mortal who invented the practice, and then actually tapped into the energy of the Dark Powers to become a lich.

No comment...

After a whole series of betrayals, Osybus became a Dark Power and the priests are trying to free Strahd from Barovia. The priests actually hate Osybus now.

Star Spawn: I feel like the star spawn are due for a special adventure or something. They seem to appear in quite a few books. I personally don't really "get" them, but it feels like someone at wizards of the coast is really into them and has a story to tell.

Nahhh...

The two types in this book are very powerful. They shoot psychic orbs and can change shape into small or medium creatures. "Heralded by ominous astrological events, these ravenous invaders make worlds ready for unimaginable masters..."

Ulmist Inquisitor: These people harness psionic powers and use them to eradicate evil. "Today the inquisition rules the city of Malitain, a vast city state to the north of Barovia's original site, and the inquisition sends its members throughout the multiverse..."

Really?...

You can do a lot with these inquisitors and the priests of Osybus. While I don't like it when there are a million factions to keep track of, this book introduces just a few, and they're unique enough that it's easy to remember who does what.

Zombies: New zombie types!

Swarm of Zombie Limbs: This is a medium-sized thing made of grasping limbs. Handy!

First appeared in Markovia in Neither Man nor Beast.

Zombie Clot: A huge-sized undead that can fling a detached clump of corpses at a creature it can see within 30 feet of it. If a creature is hit, it is entombed in the dead flesh! Gross.

Nice idea bad name... it reminds me the sound the little girl from Hereditary (2018) made.


Zombie Plague Spreader: This stiff can release toxic gas once per day that does poison damage. It also has a "viral aura."

VERDICT: For someone who owns most of the 2e and 3e Ravenloft as well (except the Vecna and Forgotten Terror adventures) I see no point in buying VRGtRavenloft. The basic drawback is that it is not a continuation of 2e, 3e what the heck! not even 4e Ravenloft but rather a reinvention of Ravenloft, like a parallel Ravenloft (as was the theme proposed for that year's QtR). There are some parts such as Darkon and Tepest (even Ivan Dilisnya tucked in his moving pod-bed) that could be used for a continuation, but in general the book does not introduce a new storyline it just reinvents the old one.

It has some nice info in some domains that can be used but they are really minor (something like a sentence) and the domains are not as detailed as in 3e Gazetteers (naturally) not even the 3e Sampaign Setting book, the writing of the domains in 2e black box has sometimes more info than the 5e version. One other basic drawback is that there is no Core anymore in 5e. Basically the 2e and 3e world building has been thrown to the trashcan and there is more focus on the domain lords rather than the relations of the inhabitants. It takes Ravenloft back in time to a weekend in Hell kind of adventures were the DM chooses a theme and uses that domain (in the past this was the reason some players didn't like Ravenloft, cause it was used as a dangerous campaign).

The few 5e Mist Hunters adventures (created to promote 5e Ravenloft) I have read are not really good, focusing mainly on a single campaign U believe starting with the findings of the conclusion of House of Lament. The House of Lament adventure seems interesting although I haven't read it thoroughly, but the background info on the house has changed from the 2e version in Darklords. I believe I read somewhere that combining elements of both backgrounds makes a better story (as mentioned before).

The Horror tropes, Power Checks etc. are not much different than in 2e and 3e and the separation of the Horror theme in different categories is good for new DM's but not very necessary in my opinion. The whole campaign world has in a way changed from gothic horror to dark fantasy (whatever that is exactly) and while in previous products there was a tip for using existing books, films and dark pop culture icons there is a box somewhere in the book that has a tip for DM's to not use ideas from these kind of sources, which to me sounds ridiculous as the whole campaign was based on that idea. I personally think the images are to fantasy for my taste, lacking the atmosphere of 2e images by Nelson and Fabian, I am not a big fan of the 3e images though and there are some images in VRGtRavenloft that are better than 3e.

The spirit board is a nice touch bit I would change some things about it, mainly from whom it is used from.

If you own most of 2e and 3e Ravenloft books you don't need this.

[alhoon]

We have reviews for the Ravenloft 5e.
Basically, I would say that Curse of Strahd has some chapters that are not too Strahd focused that would be very nice in any campaign. That said, 5e Ravenloft also has some good ideas although not all mesh well with previously established canon.

[Jeremy16]

We have reviews for the Ravenloft 5e.
Basically, I would say that Curse of Strahd has some chapters that are not too Strahd focused that would be very nice in any campaign. That said, 5e Ravenloft also has some good ideas although not all mesh well with previously established canon.

Pages and pages of reviews, in fact! Just follow the arrow...
===> https://www.fraternityofshadows.com/for ... ilit=vrgtr

[dead]

Personally I wouldn't buy it, as it has its own canon different from the 2e/3e, but since you have made your own changes in the campaign you might find some ideas there useful. Following are my comments in italics

Thanks for the comments. That was helpful.

My verdict is that it is only worth getting if you are running 5E and want the class options and monster stats. I don't care for any of the lore parts. My Ravenloft still has the Core.

What edition of D&D do most people use for Ravenloft on these forums?

[Mephisto of the FoS]

What edition of D&D do most people use for Ravenloft on these forums?

I believe the majority of writers in this forum use Pathfinder or 3/3.5e D&D rules. There are some exceptions though as it is evident in some QtR articles that use 2e AD&D and some write about 5e (I think I haven'twitnessed anyone using 4e though). In general though this forum is mainly based on lore discussions rather than stats or different edition game mechanics. Conversions from one system to the other are possible anyway, so it is better to circulate and discuss ideas rather compare systems. Also it is prohibited in this forum to compare systems, promoting one over the other. If in some discussions there is a comparison it is always made with positive thought and not to antagonise which system is best.

The same goes for information of 5e Ravenloft compared to older editions, although I have made bad reviews for 5e Ravenloft it is mainly out of waiting a new Ravenloft product or the revival of Ravenloft for so long and being disappointed that there was no continuation with the older material but rather a reboot. Of course as a community (and personally) we accept any edition of Ravenloft for discussion as well as articles in our annually netbook Quoth the Raven. Personally I have made an article the year VRGtRavenloft was published to bridge the two Ravenofts, I am viewing 5e as a parallel universe which is an interesting idea on its own. Something like the G.I.Joe episode Worlds Without End where some of the Joe's are somehow taken to a parallel universe where Cobra rule the world.

[Igor the Henchman]

As you probably know by now, the Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft proposes a completely different version of the setting than the 2E/3E books. The domains are more isolated, and act as their own mini-settings. Several darklords have had their biographies rewritten from scratch, taking their stories in new directions. The bulk of the focus is set on helping you define the genre(s) of horror you wish to emulate in D&D and how to choose/create a domain that best reflects that genre.

My advice: get it, read it, then decide what you prefer for your current campaign. Most of the content in this book is edition-agnostic, meaning its mostly lore and flavor, with just a handful of updated 5E creature stats thrown in at the end.

For me, the Ravenloft setting presented in VRGtR feels more "D&D-ish" (if that's a proper word). You've got an adventuring party with a kobold wizard and a warforged monk? Don't worry, they'll fit right in. Another plus for you is since each domain is now isolated from the others, you don't need to worry about Barovia's presence in the game. If you don't need it, it's gone.

Bottom line: don't expect it to follow the same continuity as the previous books, but since you're already used to adapting and homebrewing part of the setting to fit your campaign, this will just give you more parts and pieces to play with. So I think it could be a good buy for you. More options is always better, in my view.

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I believe the majority of writers in this forum use Pathfinder or 3/3.5e D&D rules. There are some exceptions though as it is evident in some QtR articles that use 2e AD&D and some write about 5e (I think I haven'twitnessed anyone using 4e though). In general though this forum is mainly based on lore discussions rather than stats or different edition game mechanics. Conversions from one system to the other are possible anyway, so it is better to circulate and discuss ideas rather compare systems. Also it is prohibited in this forum to compare systems, promoting one over the other. If in some discussions there is a comparison it is always made with positive thought and not to antagonise which system is best.

Oh, yep. That makes sense. I was just curious.

I've got one more question... Has anyone on the forums created a domain for Transylvania and Dracula?

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I've got one more question... Has anyone on the forums created a domain for Transylvania and Dracula?

There is a 2e Guide to Transylvania an accessory for Masque of the Red Death sourcebook of Gothic Earth

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There is a 2e Guide to Transylvania an accessory for Masque of the Red Death sourcebook of Gothic Earth

Oh, yes, thanks. I've got that one. I was just wondering if anyone had done some more material on the forums. Also, I'm after a castle for Dracula that's on par with Castle Ravenloft (but not Castle Ravenloft).

I bought the Dracula Dossier for some resources and it's got the historical Bran Castle in it but it seems small and ordinary compared to the majesty of Castle Ravenloft.

Hopefully there'll be a castle for Dracula in Veil of the Eternal Night that I backed.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I found this cool mini for Ivan Dilisnya 5e

[alhoon]

The image is not showing, Mephisto.

Aside of reviews on 5e VRGtR, what do you guys think of the Curse of Strahd? I found it very useful as an adventure; there are parts you can simply steal for other campaigns.

[KingCorn]

I think it had a good I'Cath and Bluetspur reinterpretation, and I didn't mind Kalakeri (though prefer the original Sri Raja). But that's it.

[Speedwagon]

I was drawn into Ravenloft with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, so I'm biased towards it and its remakes despite using official lore from 2e/3e for my games (and overall preferring the latter to the former). As others have said, I really liked the new I'Cath, I appreciated the slight expansion of Bluetspur. I loved Kalakeri and prefer it compared to Sri Raji, and I feel the same with the new Har'Akir (so much bigger and so much more to do than the small backwater it was before----I understand why it was a backwater but I never liked it). I thought that Richemulot and Tepest in 5e felt like natural evolutions of their 3e write-ups, in that the Becoming Plague Dread Possibility for Richemulot went out of control and became the Gnawing Plague while the Inquisition in Tepest went haywire and the Three Hags turned on each other with Lorinda coming out on top and the fey ultimately triumphing against the Tepestani people. I also didn't mind new Valachan too much, as I never really got much mileage out of the old Valachan, and if you look up various threads on Valachan in these forums, the idea of making it tropical rainforest and having some Aztec/Spanish colonialism bent to it was quite popular in the years way before the 5e book came out, so I wasn't too surprised by the change (though I understand why people might not like it). I've used elements of 5e Hazlan both for my own interpretation of Hazlan based on 3e lore as well as for Vechor, and I used elements of 5e Dementlieu for Nosos and elements of 5e Falkovnia for Tovag in the Burning Peaks Cluster. I like merging 5e Borca and 5e Mordent with their 3e counterparts, and for Borca I truly adore the listing of each estate of the nobility and the role of each noble family (very similar to Mordent's fallen noble families except they're still around!.

[alhoon]

Honestly, new Dementlieu is a great setting. And it works as an island of terror. I love the idea I read somewhere of Saidra's Dementlieu being connected with the Core Dementlieu, in the sense that pantries in Dementlieu-Core swap with Saidra's Dementlieu occasionally, with food appearing in Saidra's from Core-Dementlieu.

I am ambiguous about Day-Saidra being a wraith, though. I would prefer her as a human that transforms to the dreaded red murderous spirit at night. In the mornings, she's a cursed human that can still disintegrate poseurs and control the ghouls she makes as a spirit.